Come out for a beautiful Fall weekend looking at beautiful art.
Stop by “Art In The Barn” this weekend out in Barrington – and be sure to stop by
the Lower Barn to see me, my latest work and my new little “monsters” in Booth E-4.
Consider it a kick-off of Fall… complete with corn stalks, hay bales, pumpkins & mums!

With plenty of handmade pottery for everyone, choose from bowls, mugs, vases, oil lamps,
soap dispensers and more. All wheelthrown stoneware with handmade, stamped textures
& patterns making each piece one-of-a-kind. Plus, some decorative items such as birdhouses,
Jack O’Lanterns, ikebana vases, and tiled ClayQuilt wall hangings!

Saturday, November 25th & Sunday, November 26th
10:00am-6:00pm both days

On the grounds of Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital in Barrington, Illinois.
Just 40 miles northwest of Chicago – on Route 22, a mile or so west of Route 59.
The art fair is held directly east of the hospital in the original farm buildings which
were once part of the farm complex owned by Quaker Oats.

Art In The Barn is a fundraising event for the Hospital Auxiliary… and a portion of all sales
will be donated by each artist. So come out ot Barrington to support your favorite artist, get
some great art, a really great milkshake… knowing that a portion will be going to a good cause.

I will be located in the Lower Barn in Booth E-4… next to my usual booth space?!
And maybe a little cramped with a LOT of pottery crammed into one booth?!…
…sadly, no thanks to the new organizers of the Art In The Barn event.

So today I was in the studio painting clear glaze on “my little monsters”…
but it was so BEAUTIFUL outside… and my bike was calling me again!
So… I decided to “skip out” for an afternoon ride with my friend Chris up to
the Chicago Botanic Garden. With a plan of returning to the studio after the ride
to finish glazing! During the ride, I was excited to pass another mileage milestone!

That’s 3,000 miles pedaled so far this year!
And there’s still at least another month before the weather starts to get bad…

And for the record… I did go back to the studio. I did finish glazing. And I did load the kiln.
Okay, so it was a LOT later than I expected, but the bike ride was well worth it.

After a couple days of cloudy skies, it was nice this morning to be back to
blue skies, wispy clouds and a stunning sunrise. Back to beautiful.

After a long day (and night) of underglaze painting, it felt good to leave last night
with everything painted and drying for the night. Next up?… a quick layer of clear
glaze and then into the kiln! And back out just in time for this weekend’s art fair!

I hope you’ve enjoyed sharing my photos over the years.
I love taking them. I enjoy capturing my experiences. I love the challenge of creating
a beautiful image through photo composition & framing… and now I need your help!

Again this year, CBS 2 Chicago is sponsoring a photo contest to get published in their
upcoming photo book “Capture My Chicago.” If you recall, they did the same project
last year and I was lucky enough to get two photos included in the book. And with your help,
I would like to get published again in their year’s version of the book. But I need your votes…

Simply go to www.CaptureMyChicago.com
Register with a quick e-mail address – then start voting for your favorite photos!
Do a search for “Gary Jackson” – and then click on my shmarmy mug shot.
That will take you to my collection of photos which I hope you’ll vote for.
You have a choice to “Dig It” or “Nix It.” So vote early, vote often!

I currently have over fifty photos uploaded for your voting consideration.
And will continue to post more over the next few weeks. I’m not sure when
the deadline is for the book, but I hope to get a lot of votes so I can get published
once again. Please send this out to everyone… put it on your Facebook…
Twitter it… e-mail it… do whatever it takes to get the word out there!

Stop by today and start voting… www.CaptureMyChicago.com

Six hundred posts… and still going strong!
Thanks for sticking with me and “suffering through” some of my ramblings.
Fun & production in the studio, my life as an artist, inspirations, updates…
and those incessant bike sunrise photos!!!

Another long night at the studio. But I’m right on schedule… all feet now attached.
And although I feel I’m on schedule, reality is just sinking in that I have a LOT
of underglazing tomorrow to add some color! That’s a LOT of painting…
not to mention the glazing that needs to follow that…

After a day at the art fairs, I spent the night in the studio doing some more detailing!
Getting one step closer…. and still hoping to make my deadline… and get them done
in time for next weekend’s “Art In The Barn.” If all goes well, they’ll all be in the kiln
on Wednesday, cooled on Thursday, out on Friday – at the fair on Saturday & Sunday!!!

Today was a little rainy & cloudy… not the nicest day for an outdoor art fair!
Been there. Done that. I know how tough it is to stick it out in your tent when it’s pouring.
So I decided to go out to the suburbs to visit some of my “art-fair-friends” who were doing
some shows this weekend. Hopefully tomorrow’s weather will be better for them!

After driving out to the suburbs through the lightning & pouring rain, I was glad to see
that the storm seemed to have blown over by the time I got to the LaGrange Art Fair.
My friend Cory McCrory is a wonderful ceramic artist who makes these wonderfully
whimsical sculptures! We’ve known each other for years, and I have a quite the nice
collection of her work… some fish, cups, teapots, bottles and after today, a new chair!

Then I went off to the Naperville Riverwalk Art Fair to check in with more artist friends.
The weather had gotten better, but still not great… and the customers were finally showing up.
It was a fun show and a beautiful location. Great artists all over the park, including potter
Michael Schael, painter Cheryl Holz and jeweler Teresa DeVer. The Riverwalk is beautiful too.
And has a lot of great sculptures & gardens along the way. My favorite was this great
sculpture of “Dick Tracy.” Apparently, the artist who drew the comic strip for so many years
was from Naperville. Who knew?